Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.3] Quest 250- A New Shadow

Cirrus’s mindscape.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

“… It's peaceful here.” Said Xuanlong. “Tell me, what is this place?” she said, turning to Cirrus, who was sitting down and leaning back on a tree watching the sea.

“This is my mind, I guess, or something close to it at least.”

“And you, giant, you stay here?” she turned her gaze up to Hecton.

“I do,” Hecton said, reading a book.

“Do you find it boring?”

“I spend my time in meditation, but every night I and Sir Cirrus play games of strategy.”

“Lucky punk ass, it’s not fair! You have like 90 times the calculative power than me to make moves!!” Cirrus shouted.

“And you still won 5 of our 60 games, a remarkable feat, given my intelligence.”

“… You two have a lot of banter… tell me… huh? I never caught your name?” Xuanlong asked.

“My name is Cirrus, and this is Hecton.”

“Cirrus, tell me what do you plan on doing with me? And what am I?”

“Hmm… nothing much, really. I mean, I only stopped you because you posed a lot of danger to the world. As for what you are… Hmm… I guess Hecton would know more than me.”

They look up to Hecton as one of his heads looks at them.

“From my long pondering, I have concluded that we are what I call Kagesonzai, a Shadow Existence.”

“Oh? You went with a Yamato name, huh?”

“Either would be fine.”

“Ah…” Xuanlong looked at herself and saw her body as that of a monster with a parasite on its head. “… This body… it’s disgusting. Vile, abhorrent, repugnant, unnatural.”

It was easy to tell that she held a great self-loathing.

“You can change your form if you wish.” Said Hecton.

“You can? Have you changed yours?” asked Cirrus.

“I have, but I returned to this form as I found it more comfortable for me.”

“I can… change my form?” Xuanlong asked.

“Yes, you simply need to focus on an image in mind of how you wish to look, maybe someone you have seen in your past life, and take it. Our bodies are now as malleable as a shadow. We can also move from shadow to shadow and reside in them. Luckily, we gained that ability from your pact with Circe.”

“…” Xuanlong closes her eyes and tries to remember, but. “I have… mixed memories? No… some are mine and some aren’t?”

“An amalgamation,” Cirrus said, getting up. “I found it strange from what I heard and by Hecton’s own words that you corrupted spirits could use many kinds of magic, and now I can see why.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I mean, they must have mixed in a lot of other spirits in you to allow you to use their magics. I heard the Loki Familia faced one similar to you, but you seemed more… well, a few screws loose.”

“Sir, it could be because of the monsters they were fused with,” Hecton said.

Hecton was not wrong. While the Corrupted Spirit, the Loki Familia faced down in the Dungeon's 59th floor was also in the same line of prototypes that Xuanlong was part of. Except for Xuanlong who was a mash of 6 whole spirits, each 1 being a main personality all haphazardly put together. While the one the Loki Familia faced was one major spirit as the dominant personality and six other smaller ones.

“I-I-I n-no! That’s not—!”

She goes through her memories to find an assortment of disconnected memories. All from different perspectives and timeframes.

“From the looks of things, it seems I was right.”

“T-this… I'm… am an actual monster…. I don’t even know who I am anymore.” Xuanlong crumpled to the ground, grasping her mind, wishing for the pain to stop.

“Well, how about I give you a name?” Cirrus said, walking up to her. “Unless you already have a name?”

“A name… I was called Xuanlong but… I don’t like that name… nor the person who gave it to me.”

“Well, I can give you a new one if you want, or you can sort it out and give yourself a name you can be proud of.”

“…. I… I will think about it.”

“Very well. I’ll be going to sleep now.” He walks towards the woods and suddenly music began to play as he began to sing.

“♪Led through the mist,

By the milk light of moon,

All that was lost is revealed.

Our long-bygone burdens, mere echoes of the spring,

But where have we come, and where shall we end?

If dreams can't come true, then why not pretend?

How the gentle wind,

Beckons through the leaves,

As autumn colors fall♪”

His voice brought a gentle serenity to her heart, as it could lull her to sleep by it as it slowly fades away.

“Do you understand now? We are now part of him.”

“… He is my master now… right? Does he treat you well?”

“He treats me as an extension of himself. I have access to plenty of books and various other media that have not been seen by the world.” Hecton waved his hand, and a tv appeared. “You will find your stay here enjoyable.”

“… Well, I no longer feel hungry anymore, so staying here isn’t so bad. Do we even still eat?”

“Not necessarily. We can still eat, but we do not need to eat.”

“So food is more of a luxury?”

“Correct.”

“Huh… I see. What of thirst? Is that the same as food?”

Hecton points to the sea.

“You may drink from that. From what I have found, the sea is both Sir Cirrus’s mana and, metaphorically, his life.”

“…Uhhh.”

“I said metaphorically, figuratively. It does not affect Sir Cirrus as drastically as you think.”

“With your size, I am sure you drink a lake’s worth!”

“You only need one mouthful to be satisfied. Try it.”

“Hmm…”

Xuanlong slowly walks to the sea and opens her dragon mouth and takes a mouthful.

Gulp!

“!!”

She felt refreshed, her body cooled, and satisfied.

“That will last you three weeks. One if you are outside this little world.”

Around the time, Xuanlong was absorbed by Nox’s magic.

“… Seems we are too late,” Neze said, having met up with Wu to deliver the magic stones.

WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!

Neze stands with Wu as a massive blast of wind hits them and pushes them back a bit.

“This power… it’s disgusting how powerful she is,” Wu said, looking at Nox’s magic in fear, awe, and frustration. “Cirrus… Ein was right. He has sharpened himself back up.”

“… No, it looks more like he has shown his fangs. At last, this body remembers it well, how skilled and dangerous he is with moves he polished to perfection. As for Nox… it seems we will have to fight her in the dungeon, anywhere else, and her magic will strike us.”

“… Neze, can you go and tell them what happened? I think I’ll spend some time here on the surface… I can’t face them after I had failed so miserably.”

“Very well. I shall find you when the tunnel is truly complete. I will bring back the magic stones for Arbuda.”

Neze walked away, quickly leaving.

“… No matter how many magic stones I eat I will never reach you… but I can at least find a poison that could.” Wu looks towards the desert and walks. “I can smell a very potent poison in the far distance.”